Rubedo
by Saki-nee
Summary: Mustang and his team, along with Hughes, have a case to work on. Edward is given few arrays related to this for analyzing, but soon the case turns out to be much more sinister than any of them had expected.    T to be on the safe side
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't really surprising. Now that he thought about it, it was already winter. So the probability that it would start snowing was actually quite high. He had just been so busy that he hadn't given it a thought.

He sighed deeply in something like defeat, letting his shoulders sink. His whole posture became lax before he lifted his head and squared his shoulders again. He didn't really have anything against snow, he actually liked it, but the cold caused his ports to ache. So no, it wasn't the snows fault.

He let out another deep breath and watched how it formed a cloud in front of him before vanishing. The snow flakes fell down slowly, playing with each other in the wind. He kept walking along the streets of central, which were still and quiet. it was the snow the caused it, he thought while walking briskly ahead to keep warm, it caused the whole city to quieten. It was like it was sleeping under the white blanket of snow.

He wanted to sleep too, curl under the warm blanket in his own bed, but that wouldn't do because the Colonel had asked him to meet him this afternoon in his office. He didn't really want to go, the Colonel was irritating at the best and downright annoying most of the time. Not that he couldn't cause gray hears to people if he wanted to, but Colonel could be very tiring if he was in the bad mood.

He rounded a corner and the Central's Military Headquarters came into view. It was a huge building, biggest in Central, actually. Even thought it was late, he could still see lights inside. People were working late today.

It seemed that the Colonel actually wanted his help in something. He wasn't a stranger to this, hell, he was like some sort of military agent. Traveling undercover and acting like a police. He couldn't even count all the times when he had stopped a criminal or criminal alchemists from causing havoc, hence the name hero of the people. But this was different, usually he helped the military, but he worked separately. Sometimes he even helped the milises but did not take orders from them. Mustang did then and then, time to time order him to places were the situation was difficult and he quieted it down, saving Mustang from troubles and for that Mustang left him alone and sometimes gave him rumors he had heard about the stone. It was a nice symbiosis, both respecting the agreement and gaining profit from it. He didn't really have anything against it.

But never had Colonel asked him to be part of the Military operation. He was fine with this, for he didn't have proper training to wok as a soldier even if he was part of the military. No, he wasn't really a soldier, more of a researcher. A damn good one, but still a researcher. Now it seemed that Colonel needed him as well, whether as a researcher or soldier, he didn't know but he trusted the man in any case.

He had been in the army for two years now and had formed an agreement of sorts with Mustang. It seemed that Mustang was reluctant to involve him deeply with the Military and he respected him for that, even if it was mostly a failure.

He had traveled with his brother around the country, fought battles better left alone, met people he wished he hadn't met and seen things he wished he hadn't seen. This involved many from the military. He had learned a lot about it nearly without setting a foot inside the building. Funny how much one could learn with sheer experience alone. But whatever was the case, Mustang never placed him in those kind of situations on purpose, and he was sure the Colonel had saved him from a lot of shit. It was hard not to give him respect for that.

But he would be damned if he ever told him that, the man knew it anyway, just like he knew that he respected him in his own way. Some thing don't need to be voiced to be known. He should know, he did it with Al all the time.

He walked through the gates of Central command, which were just as huge as one could except from the building with seven stores, nodding to the guards who were standing on guard by the gates. From their faces he could tell that they were freezing their asses off, who wouldn't when the wind started to pick up?

The guards answered to his greeting by saluting, Well, both seemed to be sergeants so it was according to the protocol. But the smiles they offered weren't, and he grinned back before continuing his way across he grounds,

Mustang and his team had just been transferred from eastern headquarters to the central command. The Colonel had been ridiculously happy and managed even to inform him in the middle of nowhere. In a town as small as Recemboll, but situated in a forest. He still suspected that the Colonel just wanted to avoid doing his paper work and given the excuse of tracking down him and his brother.

And he wanted to call him small.

Stupid lazy Colonel. He wasn't really short, just a bit under the average. Then again, he had also gotten his laughs when he heard the first lieutenant's gun firing and from the frightened yelp he concluded that the shot was aimed next to the Colonel's head.

The man deserved it.

He grinned a the memory and climbed the stairs to the command (Seriously, how many steps did they build? It wasn't like they really _needed_ this many.) and went through the doors and continued his way through the corridors.

He hadn't been many times in the central command but he had a good sense of directions.

One had to have when traveling as much as he and Al did. He noticed that he collected quite many stares while walking briskly along the corridors. He wondered if it was because they knew who he was or because they didn't. In any case he was still receiving more stares than Hawkeye's smiling face.

And that was a lot.

He ignored them, he was used to stares anyway. Suddenly he was forced to acknowledge a man, who seemed to step out of nowhere right in front of him, causing him nearly to walk straight into him. He glanced up to the man's face and then to his rank.

A second lieutenant.

At least he couldn't cause him any troubles. He hated dealing with those tight ass generals.

He stepped few steps backwards so he didn't need to bent his head in such a big angle (stupid abnormally huge people) and then glared at him. Judging by the stupid smile plastered on the mans face he taught he was a lost child in big scary building. The poor man couldn't be more wrong.

" what ?", he asked never-too-politely. He hated dealing with these kind of people, couldn't they just mind their own business? Was that too much to asked? Besides, he did _ not_ look like a lost kid. He was thirteen, dammit! He didn't have the air of some lost brat around him so why did they think he had?

The man seemed unfazed by his tone and bent down so that he was in the eye level with him. He suppressed the urge to growl at the man. " Hi, what are you doing here alone? Are you lost-".

_I dare you_, he thought _I dare you to say it. _

" -little guy?"

_He said it._ He clapped his hand and touched the wall with his fingertips. The lieutenant soon found himself looking _up _to him with his legs _in_ the floor.

"Well_ Lieutenant", _he said and made sure to stress the rank " for your information I am not lost and- " He leaned _down_ so that his face was inches from the mans face, giving him his best I'll-kill-you glare that sent shivers down the mans spine. Kids weren't suppose to glare like that.

" I am NOT a _little guy_ and I. am. not. SHORT. "

It seemed that his glare worked very well because the guy shrank under his gaze, thought he still didn't seem to understand exactly _who_ he was dealing with. Well, the poor guy probably wasn't at fault, but he still called him SHORT. He withdrew his face and straightened his back making sure that he had the feeling of superiority around him. He had developed it while dealing with idiots who didn't take it well when a brat was giving orders to _them_. It worked, and the guy started to look unsure.

He noted absentmindedly that whispers had broken out all around him and by now they had quite the audience. It seemed that he wouldn't be forgotten very quickly at Central command. Oh well, hopefully he wouldn't be called SHORT anymore.

He glared angrily down at the guy. " If you do not give your _superior_ proper respect, you will face trouble in the future." He said as coldly and sternly as he could and then marched off ignoring the Don't-leave-me-stuck-here -yell behind him. Pulling a rank could be so satisfying sometimes. No wonder Mustang liked to do it so often.

He was still angry when he arrived at the Colonel's office and stormed through the door with little more force than necessary. If you are being sarcastic.

The occupants in the office didn't seem too surprised by his loud entrance. They were used to it by now.

Havoc looked up from his poker game with Breda. " Yo, chief! Did you really melt the ground under the poor man's feet?" he asked curiously.

"You know already? Gossip sure travels fast here." Ed asked in turn. _That explains the lack of surprise then_, he thought.

"You should not underestimate my information network" Came the familiar voice of the Colonel behind his stack of paperwork. Edward glared at him before allowing his gaze to travel around the office.

Everyone except Havoc and Breda seemed to be working hard, even Mustang, and judging by the glares that Hawkeye was sending at them, their game was going to end soon. Fuery and Falman were both writing furiously and Mustang seemed stressed. He hadn't stopped writing even when Edward had entered the office and Ed could detect few firing marks on the wall behind him. _Seems like he doesn't dare to slack off anymore today, _he thought.

Edward's eyes landed on certain figure who was standing next to Mustang's desk, a cup of steaming coffee in one hand and few documents in other.

"Well, I'm not sure about_ your_ network, Colonel, but if it's _him _who told you, I'm not at all surprised that you know."

The man grinned happily, abandoning his cup of coffee and the documents as he walked towards him an threw a hand around his shoulders. " Aawww, Ed, I take that as a compliment", Maes Hughes said while leaning his weight on Edward's shoulder. He changed his mind rather quickly when he felt the coldness seeping through his clothes.

"Ack, you're freezing!" He cried while launching off of him. Ed threw him a look. " Well yeah, have you noticed how cold it is outside? And my arm is made of metal, of course it's cold." Maes gave him a look of concern but it was Hawkeye who opened her mouth to comment; "Is it not a bit dangerous for you? The winter is going to get a lot colder and you could get a frostbite."

Ed smiled slightly at her concern. "Don't worry lieutenant, I won't be in trouble before it's colder than minus 15 Celsius, and even then I just need to be careful." Falman, who automaticly shared information even without being asked added: " In automails a specific mixture of metals is used in order to reduce the conduction of heat. And in colder weather a special kind of automail is used. The design was developed in North were..."

"Thank you Falman, that was very enlightening but it is enough" Came Mustang's annoyed voice behind his desk. " Fullmetal, feel free to warm your automails in front of the heart if needed" He added to Edward, who didn't have any objections against getting rid of his pains.

When he walked towards the warming fire Havoc repeated his question: "Hey chief, did you _really _make the poor guy sank in the floor?"

Ed scoffed. "Considering that it was Hughes who told you I don't think I need to answer that." Breda whistled quietly. "Seriously? What did he ever do to you, called you small?" Ed shot him his I'll-kill-you -glare and snapped: " I'm **not** small. And no, he asked me if I was lost. Stupid bastard."

The whole office burst into laughs, even Hawkeye smiled, thought she still added "You should not make people sink in the floor, you might cause damage."

"To the floor or people?" Asked Fuery.

"I don't cause damage! ….much anyway..." Ed protested, which only caused more laughs. Mustang raised an eyebrow at this. "Funny, the damage reports that I keep receiving constantly say otherwise. What was it that you destroyed this week? I think it was a warehouse. A big one."

"That was NOT my fault! It was already collapsing! I kinda just knocked over the wrong wall." " The wrong wall? You knocked over the wrong wall?" Havoc snickered. "YES. It wasn't my fault" Ed yelled exasperated. Maes chuckled at the boy. "Seriously Ed, you need to be more careful. You might get hurt."

Mustang scowled. "He is already hurting the money funds. How can someone so small cause so much damage?" Ed's eyes flashed dangerously and he grabbed the closest thing, which happened to be one of Fuery's screwdrivers, and threw it at the Colonel hitting his forehead while yelling: "WHO IS SMALL YOU STUPID COLONEL!".The Colonel rubbed his forehead angrily. "Ouch! Oi, brat, I could court martial you for harming your commanding officer."

Ed glared at him. "But you won't so no use telling me that." Hawkeye sighed. Some things never change. Fuery rose and retrieved his tool. "Ed, please don't throw my repairing tools around. They can still break and I need them to keep the radios going." Ed looked at Fuery and smiled sheepishly. " Sorry about that. If they do, I'll by you new ones. I have enough money and knowledge to do so."

Fuery looked at him "You sure? It's not as easy as it seems." Ed rolled his eyes. "Please, I grew up with an automail mechanic."

"That reminds me," said Breda turning to Ed, "where did you leave Al?"

The armor was always with Ed, and it was weird for the people in the office to see the boy without his brother. "Yes, where is Alphonse, did you have a fight?" Asked Hughes, bit worried. When the Elric brothers fought, there were always consequences.

"No no, nothing like that," Ed assured them " He just found a kitten and asked to keep it. I said no, but he wouldn't let her be so I allowed him to take him home until we can find someone who can take care of her." Hughes laughed. " How _does _he find so many cats." Ed sighed wistfully. " I wish I knew, I wish I knew." Laughter filled the office again but this time ed joined it also.

When the laughter subsided Ed turned to face the Colonel, who still sat behind his desk, signing reports with the air of martyr around him. "Now, Colonel", he said, getting his attention even if still kept on writing. _Hawkeye must have been in bad mood today_, annoyed when the man was ignoring him. "What is so important that you have to call me here?"

The colonel sighed and put his pen aside. He lifted his head and looked him straight into eyes. Ed felt how the atmosphere quieted and frowned slightly. "Would you look at these pictures and tell me what you can say about them." The Colonel said while picking up the documents that Hughes had left on his table. Ed strode to his desk and took the pictures in his hands. He glanced at Mustang before focusing to the pictures. And gasped quietly.

"Oh no, no no no no no." He whispered quietly. He didn't want to face this, not yet.

They where about syntetigrams. Syntetigrams that held horrible familiarity in them. He remembered the one he had drawn with Al and his automail ached from the memory. He still dreamed of it. Woke up covered in cold sweat and gasping for breath.

Roy watched the teen in front of him. When he had seen the pictures he had gasped and gone white and very still, staring at the pictures like he couldn't turn his gaze away, which he probably couldn't.

He hadn't wanted to show them to Fullmetal, but he knew that Fullmetal was the expert in this. The case was confusing and he didn't like the feeling he got from it. Hughes, who was also working on the case, felt the same.

The whole office watched Ed's reaction. They knew approximately what the pictures were about and watched with concern as the teen gazed at pictures, his face was pale, but his eyes held a hard calculating look. Roy could see weariness that no-one his age should have in their eyes.

Fullmetal, with a visible effort, collected his composure and looked up at him.

"Human transmutation." His words held certainty in them. He had recognized the patterns.

Roy nodded. "Two transmutations. No witnesses, no remains. No-one noticed anything strange about the alchemist. They didn't have any loved ones to revive. The whole case has something fishy in it and I don't like the feeling of it."

Ed's eyebrows shot up. "No loved ones? Human transmutation is very difficult. Even the most arrogant alchemist that study it realize that it holds a risk. They wouldn't perform it unless they had a strong motive."

Roy nodded. "That's what we also think. And that's exactly why I want you to look at these array's. I have a feeling there is a lot more into this and you might also gain something from this."

Ed looked at Mustang. He didn't want to deal with this shit anymore. He didn't want to remember, the memories were still too strong for his liking. But Mustang was also right. Human transmutation was something that dealed with same kind of alchemy that he was researching. He might get leads how to get Al's body back. The chances were slim, but they were always. He looked for legends, myths, things that were not supposed to be known and this fit the description. He pushed his fear aside, they were irrelevant. Al was more important, he always was.

He nodded. " I'll look into these."

Mustang observed the boy. His stand was straight and his eyes held certainty. If he was afraid or hesitating, he hid it well. His eyes shone with such a determination and stubbornness, that for a while, he looked much older than he actually was. Mustang smirked. That boy could probably face anything if he really wanted. Fullmetal indeed, heart and mind.

"Very well, I hope that you could conduct the research either in here or somewhere private. Those array's are not something I want anyone to see."

Fullmetal nodded.

"Come here tomorrow eight o'clock sharp, and will look into possibilities where you can work."

"We could hire a private research room from library." Hughes put in. "There you'd have the research material. Or you could work here in the office were we know the array's will be safe."

"I need to analyze these before I can say for sure, but I think I could work here if I get a desk big enough and about a half dozen books from library." Ed mused. "And Al" He added.

Mustang nodded. "Of course, I didn't think you would work without him anyway." He waved his hand in dismissing manner. "Get some rest and come back tomorrow."

Ed mock saluted and grinned. "Yes, yes see you all tomorrow."

A ring of goodbyes rang in the office as the young alchemist strode off, his braid flapping behind him as he closed the office door with a bit more force than necessary.

Mustang sighed.

"Does he have something against door in general or does he that to annoy me?" he wondered.

Hughes snickered. "Probably the latter. Or he just likes to make noise."

Havoc snorted. "Hah, he must be one of the loudest brats I've ever come across with. Sometimes when he rants at chief I think my ears will start to bleed."

"Well, for that we can also blame the colonel." Fuery said, "I mean, do you have to call him short?"

Mustang leaned back behind his desk, ignoring his paper work, which earned him a glare from Hawkeye. Which he blatantly ignored.

"It's a good stress reliever," He said in his defense, and glanced sorrowfully at the poor door. "I just wish he wouldn't take his stress out into my poor door. We have more dents in it than I want to count."

Hughes laughed but then sobered. "Do you think he'll be alright. I mean, it must be vary hard for him to face this again. It's been two years since the incident, but it must be traumatic for him."

Mustang nodded. "It is, but didn't you see the look in his eyes when he said he'd do it. He is determinant to look into anything if there is even the slightest chance it might help him to restore Alphonse's body."

"Could this really help with that?" Breda asked "What I mean is, this doesn't exactly deal with anything like that. This is forbidden alchemy."

"Yes, but this is also in the border between possible and impossible. Everything in alchemy that is situated in that area is linked in one way or other." Mustang answered.

Hughes sighed. "I only hope this will not swell into anything too big."

Mustang nodded. "Me too, Maes, me too."

_All right! This is gonna be longer story and I want to apologize in advance if I give hints about something and then nothing happens. My mind usually works faster than what I write and I only have the skeleton thought ready. I just improvise as I write, hence the mistakes. Just point them out and I'll try to correct or explain them._

_I'll do my best to update, but don't except me to update every week or anything, since I have other stuff to do also, and I try to make this worth reading for you. _

_See ya, guys!_

_- Saki-nee_


	2. Chapter 2

Why? Why did he have to face this again? Why were there so many fucking idiots who had to play God?

Ed kicked a small rock absentmindedly while walking down the street to Al's and his apartment. They didn't necessarily need one, but he liked to have a bathroom completely his. He hated sharing it.

And long showers really were a blessing in the middle of the winter, nothing warmed him or his automail better than a hot shower.

But the stupid soldiers didn't understand that. They whined that he spent too much water and time there. Really, it wouldn't kill them to wait a bit. Or take a bit colder shower, _they_ didn't have an automail that froze you up.

In the end, the complaints were just annoying, besides Al brought too many kittens in the dorm. So they solved the problem by not even applying to a dorm in central, but bought an apartment instead. They were going to spend most of their time in central anyway, now that Mustang got a transfer.

A cold wind blew past causing him to shiver. His bangs tickled his face and he pushed them behind his ear. Not that they were going to stay there for long, his hair seemed to have it's own mind hence the reason for braid. That was the easiest way to capture it.

He huffed a breath. He was in shit now. He did know a thing or two about human transmutations, but he had to keep a low profile. If it got into wrong ears how much he knew, it would bring problems. Luckily Mustang wasn't an idiot and would be aware of the problem.

How would Al react? This might be a clue.

Or trouble.

Probably both.

Only time would show, and they couldn't very well back down, now could they?

They had decided not to run away anymore, if they backed away now, it would be running away.

He wouldn't do that again.

He turned around the last corner and their apartment came into view. It was fifth floor, and quite small.

But roomy. It had to be big enough for a suit of armor so it couldn't have too many walls.

He glanced up and saw light in their window. Al was waiting him. Somehow, it made him feel warm inside. Al was always there for him. No matter what he did, where he went, what he said, Al would never leave him. Not completely. It was very comforting thought, the one that kept him going. When their mother died, Al was there. Even after the mistake, Al stayed, gentle and loving as he always was.

He really did have the best little brother in the world. He pushed open the door to the building and brushed the snow that had piled on his shoulder away. Hopefully Al would have food ready for him.

Even thought he couldn't eat, he was really the best cook ever. He said it was fun. When their mother had died they had shared the cooking, usually cooking together, but nowadays he worked with theories and plans so keenly that he forgot everything else.

He would probably forget eating too, if Al wasn't there to remind him.

He sighed as he climbed the stares. He really was hopeless sometimes.

A delicious smell of home cooked food met him when he stepped inside their apartment.

"I'm home" He called.

"Hello, brother! The food's ready now." Came Al's cheerful reply from kitchen. Ed walked around the corner and saw Al's huge armor in front of the stove.

"Mmmm, stew?" He asked while sniffing the air. Al chuckled at his blissful expression.

"Yup! Now sit down so you can eat."

"Gladly" Ed grinned while taking a chair by the table. "How is the cat?"

Al turned around, a bowl of steaming stew in his hand. Ed could feel his mouth water.

"Oh, she's fine. She ate some food and now she's sleeping. I put up some poster's so that we'll know if someone is looking for her." He said while putting the stew in front of his older, very hungry brother.

Ed grabbed the spoon and started mixing in order to get it cool down faster. He threw a skeptical look at Al. "And what if no-one is?"

Al shrugged. "Then I'll hand it over to a vet. She's taken some cat's before and she'll find her a home. You can stop looking at me like that, brother, I'm not asking to keep her."

Ed returned his eyes to his meal. "Just asking." He said, seemingly indifferently.

Al scoffed. "Drop the act, you're not deceiving me."

Ed grinned back at him. "I can always try, now can I?"

"Yes, and I notice it every time. Really, one would think you'd know by now that you can't lie. You're terrible at it."

Ed pouted."I lie as well as Mustang does! You just know me too well."

Al chuckled. "That I do. What did Mustang want anyway?"

Ed's smile dropped and he leaned back in his chair, putting down his spoon.

"He wanted me to look at some arrays." He begun slowly, looking at Al " and they were about human transmutations." Al's armor rattled as he, somehow, managed to gasp."What! But, wait, why?" He managed to choke out. "Why would he ask us to do it, he knows about our past, it's a risk to you."

"Think about it, Al" Ed said sternly, trying to calm him down. "Everything that's forbidden in alchemy is more or less related, at least all human transmutations are, trough the Gate! This can be something useful for us, something we can use!"

Al shook his head. "I don't want you to do it. I know you still have nightmares from it, I don't want you to see this again."

Ed scooped his chair closer to Al and put a hand on his shoulder blade. "Al" He said reassuringly "it's been two years now, we would have to face it sooner or later. I don't want to back down from this, it would be like running away. It's in the past now, we left it behind us, but we can't deny it's existence. If we can face this now, then we can really say it's in the past, then it can't hurt us anymore."

He looked straight at his brothers soul bound eyes."I want to do this Al." Al looked at the floor for a long time, before lifting his gaze. "Then I'll do it with you, I won't let you do this alone."

Ed smiled at him, before returning to his meal. "I was hoping for you to say that, I don't know what kind of circles they'll turn out to be, so I might need your help."

Al let his helmet hit the table. "I wonder where we have gotten ourselves now?" He wondered, exasperated.

Ed laughed merrily, "Trouble, of course!"

Ed yawned loudly while walking towards the central Headquarters. The morning was even colder than the evening before, but id did nothing to wake him up.

"I want coffee" He whined while dragging his legs along the sidewalk. Al clanked next to him "Blame yourself. You wanted to spend the whole morning in the shower and nearly missed the whole breakfast. At least you got something to eat." He chided the older brother.

"Agh, don't nag." Ed growled, rather good naturally "It's cold, I need my shower."

"Then get out of bed earlier!"

"Don't wanna!"

"And why not?"

"Again, it was cold, and I was tired."

"You're always tired. What's the difference?"

"It is to me!"

"You just like to whine."

Ed stared at him, aghast. "I do not whine! The great Fullmetal alchemist does _not _whine!"

Al cast him a disbelieving look (Don't ask how, he could do many things you'd not think possible for a suit of armor)

"And what do you call what you're doing now?"

Ed lifted his chin, trying to look as mature as possible "Mature and moderate complaining" was the answer. Al choked. "What? Mature and moderate? Right, that was new." Ed cast him a withering look, that was ruined by the obvious effort of holding back laughter. "How dare you, you insolent child, to mock the great Fullmetal alchemist! Such impudence!"

This time Al laughed, and Ed was soon joining him.

"Really brother," Al said after calming down a bit, "where did you learn that? Major Armstrong?"

Ed smirked and laughed again. "Yeah, mostly, but some of it was from other tight-ass generals."

They walked past the guarding posts while he said that and the younger guard choked at the

'tight-ass general' part, his eyes showing disbelief that someone so young could talk about generals in such a manner. The other one, who knew Ed already, merely grinned as he saluted. Ed smirked back as he did a lazy salute back while Al greeted them cheerfully as always.

"Some day, brother, some day you're gonna get in troubles with that big mouth of yours." Al sighed, shaking his head as they walked towards the stairs.

"Hah, as if I already haven't" Ed shot back. "And I always get myself out just fine."

"Still, would it hurt to be a bit more polite ones in a while"

"Of course it would" Ed declared dramatically while climbing the stairs. "I tried once and I almost died." Al threw a look at the skies. "You did not! You haven't tried it once since we left Teacher!"

"Exactly! Barely alive" Ed emphasized as if it proved his point. "You _would _have died if you _hadn't _been polite." Al cried

"Blah!" Was all the reply he got.

"Besides I tried to be polite to that lady and she ran off." He continued after a while.

"It didn't have _anything_ to do with you being polite! You were holding a unconscious, crazy alchemist who looked every bit crazy alchemist. And you looked like a delinquent with your choice of clothes and being all bloody and tattered after a fight. Even _ I _would have run away if I hadn't know you!"  
>But Ed had stopped listening after the 'with your choice of clothing' -bit.<p>

"Hey, whats wrong with my clothing!" he demanded angrily. Al scoffed.

"Oh, come on! You're wearing only black and scarlet red! With that flamel sign on the back! And those boots are not helping!"

Ed glanced down at his boots." What? The military personnel is also wearing boots." He said, now on defensive. "Yes! But yours are...are.." Al stammered, looking for words, "Badass!" He concluded finally. Ed grinned. "And that's exactly why I like them!"

Al threw his hands in the air "I give up! But don't whine to me if the military doesn't take you seriously when you dress like that."

Ed clanked his automail at Al's arm. "Awww, don't be like that, Winry likes my boots. And clothing. At least she has a good taste."

"Yes, and more piercings in her ears than she has screwdrivers!"

"So?" was Ed's reply.

"Augh, nothing! You're impossible!"

"No. I'm merely your brother. "

"Hah hah"

"Yes, I'm very funny."

"And you said you wanted coffee."

"Hmm, do you think Mustang has some?" Ed wondered as they arrived at the office door. "What, coffee?"

"What else?"

"If he has some, you won't get any. You don't need any."

"Meanie!" Ed shot back before opening the office door.

"Morning people!" Was his greeting upon entering. Behind him came Al's more polite "Good morning everyone."

"Oh? You're actually on time?" Came Mustang mockingly surprised greeting, while the rest of the office offered something more normal like "Good morning"

"Shut it, too early" Ed grunted while he strode to his desk, nodding to others as he went by.

"Someones grumpy today." Mustang mused while digging into his pile of paperwork, searching for documents.

"Too early and too cold. Give me coffee."

"Don't!" Alphonse ordered sternly "He doesn't need any! He'll just go over drive and nobody wants that."

Mustang shivered at the thought while Ed scowled. "I do not!"

Al send a glare at Ed. "Oh yeah? And what was it that happened at the military police headquarters when they gave you coffee?" Ed crossed his hands and stood his ground. "I was bored. It had nothing to do with coffee."

"Oh, and I though seeing you transmutate the walls pink and running down the hall being chased by the militias who wanted you to reverse it _was_ you being hyperactive."

This had the whole office burst out laughing.

"I wondered what happened there. They never told anyone" Mustang snickered.

"Hell" Havoc got out between laughs "Why pink?"

Ed shrugged. "It seemed to annoy them the most."

"Oh, how I wish I had seen that." Breda said with a dreamy expression, before laughing again.

"I assume you changed the walls back to their original color?" Hawkeye said, her eyes showing nothing but amusement even if her face didn't.

"I did, they promised me free access to their reports about alchemical activities if I did."

Falman looked perplexed. "Why? You should have an access to those files already as a state alchemist."

Ed nodded "True, but they seemed to think that I was too young, state alchemist or not. They changed their minds in the end, thought."

Al groaned "Yeah, and it was a HUGE mess. I never thought we would get trough that one. Particularly when you suggested to turn the building pink from_ outside _as well." With that comment he got a wicked grin from Ed and laughter from the rest of the office.

When the laughter died, Ed turned to look at Mustang, all joking gone from his features. Instead, there was slight, but serious frown. "Now, back to the business. Mustang, give us those transmutations and we'll look at them."

Mustang's face got a solemn look when he handed over the papers. "Here, you can use the desk in the corner, next to Havoc's." Ed took the papers and nodded. He and Al headed to the corner and sat down. They had a good supply of papers were to write as well as space. The desk was one of the biggest.

"These look different." Al said quietly while observing the transmutations."As if there was something else there."

Ed nodded, giving the circles a hard look before sitting down. "That's what I thought when I saw them. There is definitely some other component we don't recognize. I just don't see what. I wonder what it's function is."

"Well, no other way but to find out. Let's start working."

Ed gave a nod and smirk. "This might just be interesting."

"Just don't try too hard." Al said, worriedly. Ed looked at him, sad expression in his eyes "You too, Al"

With that, both brothers set into work. Heads bent over the desk, talking quietly and scribbling notes. Mustang watched them. Both seemed to be fine, absorbed completely into the world of alchemy. There seemed to be no room for nightmares or memories in their heads, which was good. He had been worried.

"Seems like they are doing fine." came Hawkeye's quiet voice from his right. He looked at her."Yes, they are strong as well as clever."

"Now sir, if I may, I'd suggest you start working on those documents."

Mustang grimaced but, ignoring Breda's quiet sniggering, set obediently to work.

_Here's the update! Enjoy! _


	3. Chapter 3

"Roy? Hey, Roy?"

"..."

"Oi, earth to Roy"

"..."

"ROY"

"What!" Roy's head shot up from where it had been resting. Face down on his desk. He glared as hard as he could while trying not to appear sleepy at Maes who stood smirking in front of his desk.

"You were drooling"

"I did _not_" Roy protested while trying discreetly wipe drool from his face, which resulted a wider smirk from Maes. "Really, the instant you get the chance you take a nap. You know, I'm starting to think Ed has a point when he calls you lazy bastard." Roy resisted the urge to throw something at Maes. They were alone in the office, save the Elrics, but it didn't count since they were working. It was actually a bit scary how well they could concentrate. Edward had once been reading a book in the office when Roy had started to slack off in Hawkeye's presence and when Hawkeye started firing he didn't even so much as blink. And he was sitting next to Roy's desk. One of the bullets hit the wood half meter away from him.

"You do know that if Hawkeye caught you sleeping she would shoot you." Maes asked casually, as if he was talking about daily occurrences, which he actually was.

"She won't be back in a while." Roy said ignoring a pointed look from Maes that clearly said:

_That's what you think. _

"Well, back to the business, I had actually information about the transmutations." Maes said while gaining a serious look on his face. Roy's interest peaked and he sat straighter in his chair.

"Hm? And what did you find out." Maes pushed his glasses bit higher before answering:

"You were right, there is something fishy about them."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"I'm not done yet, don't interrupt." Came the reply. "I suspect there is real connection between the cases. The set-up, materials and even location are similar. It's as if it's been planned by same person." Roy leaned forward, placing his elbows on the desk. He sliced his fingers together and rested his chin on top of them. "It is certainly possible. The alchemist don't have any motives. In order to attempt a human transmutation you have to be desperate enough that it dims your judgment according to Fullmetal. I believe we can trust his judgment on this. Alchemists are scientist. Our desire for knowledge and sometimes power is the next thing that could be their motive." Maes looked at Roy with a hint of worry. "Could it be? Would any alchemist be so blind from the thirst of knowledge and power?" Roy nodded without hint of doubt. Maes leaned to Havoc's empty desk. "You know, I am starting to hate this case too. With our luck we'll run into power hungry idiots."

"Oh, we will. I can assure that." said Edwards wry voice from the corner he and Al were occupying. Maes and Roy looked at him questionably. "How so?" Roy asked. Ed pointed at the arrays. "There is definitely same person behind these. The alchemists made their own adjustments, but they are based on same theory." "And the one who came up with this is power hungry." Al piped in. "Some of the symbols are very tricky. They are powerful in transmutation, but only if one knows what they are doing. The one who made these was arrogant."

"We know that type." Ed continued. "The whole build up of these circles, their structure, speaks volumes about the maker. Whoever made these is very intelligent and knows it too."

Roy nodded thoughtfully. He had seen his fare share of that type too. Alchemy was a wonderful science. It held so many secrets and so much power and potential. The saying that from all the humans, alchemists were closest to God was not a saying for nothing. Many, many alchemists got drunk on the power and secrets. The sheer amount of knowledge was enough to make alchemists dizzy. Roy had heard stories about alchemists who, upon reaching an answer after life's worth of research and studying, experienced a sort of euphoric experience. The pleasure and love some held for alchemy was stronger than pleasure from sex and love for other humans.

From the circumspect and calculating look Maes had in his eyes he guessed that his friend was thinking along similar lines. "What have you found out thus far?" Maes asked. Ed let out a frustrated sigh, hand running through his hair leaving it sticking out at odd angels. "These are definitely for human transmutation, but-"

"but there is something else, too." Alphonse finished. Roy cocked an eyebrow.

"Something else?"

Ed nodded, staring at the circles absentmindedly while scribbling with his left hand. "If this was only human transmutation, some of these symbols are unnecessary. They could be just to stabilize the transmutation, kinda like an insurance, to make sure that it will work-"

"-but as the guy who designed this was anything but stupid, and also arrogant-"

"-it just doesn't suit him. He is clearly confident enough to need any, also the design is enough as it is-"

"-so they are completely unnecessary."

"Whoa, I get headache when I try to follow you two speaking like that." Piped in Havoc, who returned from lunch break along with Breda, Fuery and Falman. Roy and Maes ignored him as did the brothers.

"What do you think they are for, then?" asked Maes. There was a glint in his eyes, he knew there was a peace hidden in the transmutation circles. A piece that might help them to see the whole picture behind this mess. Roy sensed it too. For now, they were missing too many peaces but...

"We think that they have their own hidden meaning. They are definitely not for show." Al answered for Hughes. Ed nodded. "Yup, the guy is hiding something. He doesn't want us to know what exactly these circles are meant to do."

"Can you figure out what the real meaning is?" Roy asked.

Ed scratched his head. "Yeah, but it might take some time. We have no idea what they are meant to do and how, so we are standing on a shake ground here." Roy nodded in understanding. It was easy to understand circles when you knew what they were for, but if you didn't it was another matter entirely. As an alchemist, he knew it well.

"Hey, Falman." Ed directed his gaze at the officer working diligently behind his desk. He raised his head when he heard his name being called.

"Yes?"

"Would you please collect this book for us from the library? It could provide great help for us." Alphonse asked while holding a peace of paper for Falman to take. He took the slip and nodded his head.

"You might find it difficult, that book is very valuable, but with my signature you should have the permission to get it." Ed added.

"What is it with that book that makes it so valuable?" Asked Breda while Falman left.

"It is very old, that's all." Ed shrugged. Al shot a look at Edward. "Brother, that's not all." He turned to look at the office. "It also is about very old alchemy, ancient actually, from Xerxes. Books about Xerxes are very rare, not many alchemists can recognize ancient alchemy from Xerxes. Actually, the book Falman is getting is the only one in central library."

Hughes whisteled. "Well, that _is _ rare."

Mustang's eyebrows rose. "If they are that rare, how come _you_ know about it, no, let me rephrase that; how come you recognize Xerxian alchemy, I am assuming that is what those circles contain."

Edward nodded in affirmation. He leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head, adapting somewhat indifferent look. "Our father was an alchemist, and pretty good one at that, our house was full of books about alchemy, several of them were about Xerxian alchemy."

"We learned alchemy from books by ourselves so we are very familiar with it. We could recognize it anywhere." Alphonse continued.

The use of past tense didn't go unnoticed from anyone in the office, but they knew better than to ask. Something about Edward's posture seemed to scream _fuck off _despite his relaxed muscels and Alphonse's head was slightly down turned, as if he was a bit upset.

Mustang sensed the atmosphere and quickly asked: "Why do you think he is using Xexian alchemy?" Al tapped his pen against his helmet, deep in thought. "Probably for safety precaution." He said, receiving an agreeing nod from Edward. "This guy really doesn't want anyone finding out about these cirlces."

Havoc digged out a cigarette and stuck it to his mouth, leaving it unlit. There where children in the office after all. "Seems hell lot of secretive to me." He mumbled around his cigarette.

Hughes nodded in agreement. "Yes, a bit too secretive to me."

Suddenly, the office door was banged open and Hawkeye marched rapidly in. "Colonel. We just got information about new human transmutation." Mustang shot up from his seat behind his desk, as did everyone else in the office, including the Elrics. Hughes straightened, also alert and ready. "Where?" Mustand questioned.

"At a warehouse in the eastern warehouse district. It seems that the transmutation occurred yesterday night, but it was only discovered today." Mustang nodded in understanding. "Hughes, Hawkeye, Havoc and Breda, you come with me to the scene. Fuery, go get Falman and search for any information you can find on the alchemist. We will inform you when we know the name."

They saluted, Fuery left the office in search of Falman and Mustang started to walk after him.

"Colonel, can we come too?" They turned to look at the brothers. It was Alphonse who had asked, but Edward was also standing and ready to leave. He was slightly pale, but his eyes didn't waver when he looked Mustang at the eyes. He stood straight, shoulders slightly relaxed, but stiffed from adrenaline not fear. His eyes were determinate and his jaw had a stubborn edge. Next to him, Alphonse stood tall, his hands in loose fists

Mustang held their gaze, looking for sings of fear. They were anxious and nervous, but not afraid. "You can come, but you must let us go in first. We will call you later." The message behind his words was:

_We will clean _it_ first. Then you can come in. You don't need to see it._

Ed and Al understood but didn't argue. They nodded to confirm they would obey the order.

"Good, now lets go."

_So yeah, I'm not dead. This is just the first day in a long time when I am not stressed. School sucks, as you all know._

_Now, I know I chose that this happens in anime world, but I'm gonna take bits and peaces from the manga if I see the need. Like the bit about Xerxes._

_If you wonder why I call people sometimes by their given name and sometimes not, it is because I change the pov slightly when I feel like it. Ed calls Roy Mustang and Hughes calls him Roy. Same with everyone else. Sometimes simply just third person, and then I adress them how I want. _

_Now that summer is coming I hope to update faster. Thank you for reading this!_

_Love_

_Saki-nee_


End file.
